yo, searched and couldn't find what i wanted to see...
i am thinking about doing a mod not unlike the twisted tin sema xterra's hatch mounted spare...
...

with something like this, mounted on the 'bulge'
...


my problem is this:
my rear hatch has trouble opening and staying up sometimes as it is now... once i put my spare, [31" BFG AT w/ steel 15"] it is going to weigh it down even more...
nissan in boone tells me that there is no stronger strut i can get to make up for the difference in weight.
does anyone know of a source to get stronger struts for the doors? stabilus, the company that makes our struts doesn't exactly have a storefront, so any help would be much appreciated.
thanks,
david

Maybe a couple of struts off of a Nissan Sentra front end

I don't think you're going to find a strut strong enough to lift that much weight. Such a thing would be way to large in diameter to fit under the closed hatch, and probably would have to be a good bit longer too.

Brent

yeah that's what stabilus could offer too...
i don't really know if i want to go custom either, [this was supposed to be a thrifty mod.]
i am not going to give up though, maybe there's some parts off of some behemoth SUV's that have 300 lb hatch doors i can salvage or something, more research is all it is going to take...

oh, and i asked twisted tin how they overcame this dilemma, they haven't written me back at all, and come to think of it, i bet they never even opened that back door anyway.
david

That would be my guess......

One solution may be to devise a permanently mounted prop rod with a receiver made, nuch like what is used on the hood. I bet something suitable could be found at a salvage yard (maybe longer and stronger than our hood ones), and figured out how to be mounted well and aesthetically pleasing.

love the ladder on that Xterra. SWEET!!

My friend was at the SEMA show as a vendor and he said that they never had the hatch open at any time during the show. FYI.

Oh, by the way, I have a ton of pics of this truck if anyone would like to see them. My friend knew that I would want to see them, so he took a bunch for me.

the only thing i have against that idea [which i have been tossing around myself] is the fact that something will be there blocking access to the rear somehow. [just like the hood prop blocks access to the front corner of the truck coming in on it head-on.] the aesthetics aren't so much a consideration since the only thing showing would be the hole for the prop, but i do understand the factor of making the install clean and proper.
btw, brad, i've been meaning to pm you about the third member lsd thing, check the email.

later,
david

i'd like to see 'em, and you should try to make a get-together sometime man. hope all's well.
david

Sent you a PM.

I like the ladder on the back...anyone know of anyone making a hatch ladder for the X?

You know, a buddy of mine's Trooper had a "door prop" on the rear barn door to keep it open. If you opened it far enough, it would lock into place. There was a lever to unlock it and close the door. Something like that might work well mounted vertically. The only issue would be how to support the weight once it unlocked. The hatch would want to slam and take out any fingers, arms or heads that happened to be in the way. A larger diameter strut might be made to fit, but it would require some metal trimming.

I may take a look at this. Certainly a hellua lot cheaper option than a rear tire carrier bumper. Plus, you get a nice upper body workout any time you have to open the rear hatch.

Has anyone converted the rear hatch so it opens like a 'barn' door? (i.e. swap hinges from top to side)

yeah, i was on the 5year plan with my trooper and became a master of the 30door lock bar.
that could work too, but damn it would be swell to just put something in the same place as stock that was just heavier duty. there's GOTTA be something out there with what i need.

david

Nope, not even mentioned that I recall. Would cost an arm and a leg to do it, but why?

Whether its a 31 or 33 tire...there is no way the sheetmetal with hold that kind of weight with that jcwhitney universal wheel mount. Plus like above, my 33 weighs like 90 lbs or something....no way I can lift a hatch with that kind of weight and have it fall on my head if the locking mechanism broke!

Either throw in the back or buy a tire carrier.

oh boy.........

alright, i was already thinking about how to reinforce the sheet metal on the door to mount the plate, probably just a plate of metal bolted behind the mount with a couple of inches of overlap to distribute the weight of the bolts... also, about the weight stress on the door and it falling on my head, i have thought about that and that's why i want to get stronger struts...
set it in the back of the truck??? already did that and didn't like it. mount underneath??? won't fit, don't care WHAT anyone says on this board, just won't fit, i will pay $500.00 to anyone who can make my spare fit, with my hitch underneath my truck and have it far enough away from my exhaust pipe and rear differential to be acceptable. [you can't by the way, so don't offer.] mount it on the roof??? it's there, but i don't like having to lug it all the way up there and having it always with the sun directly so it can dry rot. for the other tires that's fine because i flex the rubber constantly when i drive, but for a stationary tire on the roof, it's a different story. if i could take anything off of the isuzu trooper that i had and put it on this truck, it would be the skids and the spare tire system, i absolutely loved it, but hated the truck. sigh, NO SIGH, i will find what i need to do this and it will be AWESOME!

david

Only solution I see is a hydraulic actuators like they use on Monster Garage to replce the Nissan struts. You'd also have to reinforce teh hinge for the 100+ lbs of extra weight. Now designing the tire carrier integrated with a ladder would be the best way. It would all be mounted to the edge in 5 different spots. 4 for the ladder and one for the tire carrier. That is the only way you could distribute the load on the hatch without cutting big ugly holes in it!

Or you could just spend $750 for Calmini already has!

$750 for a calmini ladder/spare tire mount? i didn't know calmini was offering such an animal, can you post pics?
i never thought the hinges would cause a problem, that is another thing to think about. do you think they would cause that much of a problem to need reinforcing? those power actuated hydraulic rams would be damn cool, but i don't think i could hook-up a 'freebie' since i'm not jesse james.
david

No ladder on the Calmini setup, and it's a bumper-mounted spare tire carrier, not hatch-mounted.

Seriously guys, mounting your spare directly on the hatch, if possible, would be rediculously impractical, not to mention expensive.

Brent

Probably won't work, but I had a Dodge Caravan in Hawaii that I replaced the rear hatch struts on. The hatch without the struts was extremely difficult to open. Had to weigh at least 100lbs. I would go to a junk yard and try to get a set of those babies.

Looking at this, I think the ladder is part of the spare tire mount on this truck. Sorry, I don't have a better pic. I wish I had the other side of the truck. Hope this helps.

Not to mention visibility out of the rear would be drastically reduced. The ladder idea is kind of intriguing. But I'll just stick with climbing up on a tire if I need to get anything off the roof.

Dude, is that a huge opening in the roof?